Four Things I Learned This Week (April 1)

It’s Poisson d’Avril today. Sure, it’s April Fools’ Day today in America, but in France (via Portland) it’s April Fish (Poisson d’Avril) Day. Over at Pix Patisserie‘s Pix-O-Matic vending machine you can get your chocolate and paper versions of April Fish 24/7, while they last. The chocolate fish are found all over France on this day each year and the trick part of the deal comes with children slapping unsuspecting adults on the back with a paper fish and yelling, “Poisson d’Avril!” while running away. No doubt the chocolate fish at Pix are going to be seriously delicious. 2225 E Burnside Street, Portland

10th Annual Greekster at The Side Yard Farm. The good folks at Cully’s Side Yard Farm are hosting a Greek Easter feast on Sunday, April 24—the day of Orthodox Easter. It will be an AYCE (all you can eat) affair on site, and in a very short time tickets sold out. But there is a takeout option for those who still want to enjoy the food. The meal includes a whole bunch of things including spanakopita and tiropita, pastitio, a Greek village salad, souvlaki, and baklava. Find more details, here. 4800 NE Simpson Street, Portland

Cheesemonger Sam from Cowbell wins gold. Great news from Cowbell: “Many of you will recognize Sam from behind the counter in our shop, and from wholesale sales calls and deliveries. We’re thrilled to say Sam brought home the gold earlier this month at the Cheesemonger Invitational in San Francisco—a national competition among the best cheesemongers in the country!” Big congrats, Sam! This is a fantastic achievement. 231 SE Alder Street, Portland

Support Nam Phuong Market. Roseway’s Nam Phuong Market, a wonderful Asian/Vietnamese market, was attacked this week by two people destroying their big picture window. I have no confirmation as the reason why they did it. From a neighbor: “The owners are very nice and they do not deserve this!! I always fill up on my condiments there. They also have a wonderful meat selection and lots of veggies!” You can see the two dudes breaking the front window via a security video posted over on Reddit. This really stinks and I hope you can stop by and support Nam Phuong Market with a purchase. 6834 NE Sandy Blvd, Portland

The Mekha-Yen Ha Connection

Ever since Yen Ha announced they were closing, neighbors have speculated that the people behind Mekha—located just a little ways up the road at 6846 NE Sandy Blvd—are now somehow involved in the Yen Ha space. I’ve perused a variety of documents online and what is clear is that the owner of Mekha, Long Nguyen, is leading a demolition project in the old Yen Ha (6820 NE Sandy Blvd).

Property records indicate that the owner of 6818-6828 NE Sandy Blvd is Long Nguyen, yet property records also indicated that 6828 NE Sandy Blvd is owned by Duc Tran, owner of Yen Ha.  Just a little confusing here. But the folks at Yen Ha have indicated that they will return—perhaps in that building with the help of the Mekha team?

Now, you might think, “why can’t they just cut a doorway between Mekha and Yen Ha and make it a bigger space? There is a little Vietnamese market in between the two buildings, Nam Phuong Market. They’ve been around since 1997, and personally I hope they don’t close with all these changes going on.

A recent permit with the city indicates that Long Nguyen (also serving as the general contractor) is taking out all the non-load-bearing walls in Yen Ha. He and his crew will be remodeling the dining room—walls and ceiling—as well as the kitchen.

Hopefully someone with more access will be able to fill in the missing pieces. Bottom line, though, looks like that space will be home to another restaurant.